Mitchell wants to bring consistency

SWANSEA — Bob Mitchell was recently hired to be the head coach for the Case High School varsity girls' soccer team and he wants his players to know that he plans on sticking around for the long term.

George Austin

SWANSEA — Bob Mitchell was recently hired to be the head coach for the Case High School varsity girls' soccer team and he wants his players to know that he plans on sticking around for the long term.

"What this program needs is consistency and stability because my juniors will be on their third coach in three years," Mitchell said. "They need someone who is going to stay for awhile and build the program."

While he may be the new head coach, the players at least are familiar with Mitchell because he was the assistant coach for David Tidwell last season.

"He was only there one year, but I learned a tremendous amount from him," Mitchell said of Tidwell. "I've been around the game a long time, but he's one of the most knowledgeable men I've worked with or been around."

Mitchell helped his son's teams in the Swansea Somerset Youth Soccer League. His son, Cam Whitford, played organized soccer for 14 years and was the goalkeeper for Somerset High School.

Last year's team had a 4-9-7 record and qualified for the state tournament. During the previous two seasons, the Lady Cardinals had a combined record of 1-38-1.

"They literally got a result in about four percent of their games, where we got a result — a win or a tie — in 55 percent of our games," Mitchell said.

Mitchell felt if a new face was brought in as the head coach of the team, the Lady Cardinals would lose the progress that they made last year, not just in wins and losses, but in team culture and continuity. He said the team is close-knit and the players were afraid they were going to have to start from scratch again with a new coach.

Mr. Mitchell is going on his seventh year as a teacher at Case High School. He has also worked at games in the sports program

Last year's team was very young and only captain Allison Bouchard and a transfer will be lost from that squad. But there are three students at the high school who did not play last year who are coming out for the team and some players from the junior high school who are coming up, so Mitchell is encouraged that the number of players on the roster will be increasing.

The small number of players on the team last year was a problem as the Lady Cardinals could sometimes not even put a full 11-player lineup on the field, having to play with 10 players, most of whom were freshmen and sophomores, in some games. But Mitchell said that situation helped the players to form bonds because they had to trust each other on the field out of necessity.

Mitchell said his first priority as coach of the team, will be to make playing soccer for the school an enjoyable experience for the players. He also wants them to learn how to be contributing parts to something that is bigger than themselves. He said that years from now, the students will have an easier time remembering whether they enjoyed the experience or not, than the won-loss record.

"As a teacher, I want them to learn how to manage their time with soccer and academics, because time management is probably the most important skill in college," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the team played a sound defensive game last season.

"This year, we look forward to opening up the offense a little more," Mitchell said when asked what the next steps are for the team to make more progress this year.

As a coach with Tidwell, Mitchell said he learned how to run very efficient practices with detail oriented drills.

Jeff Hetu will be the assistant coach to Mitchell this year.

"He has knowledge about the game and is very enthusiastic about being part of the Case sports programs," Mitchell said. "He wants to be involved."

Mitchell said he will have great leadership on the team with senior captains Aly Kern and Katie Paul.

"They are both skilled players, but more importantly, they have great character," Mitchell said . "It's a younger team and the other players look up to them."

Mitchell said the team had six good freshmen last year. One of them transferred to another school. Mitchell said the Lady Cardinals have a tough schedule for the upcoming season, but that one year of experience for the younger players should go a long way in facing those challenges.

"Probably more importantly, they know what it requires in the off season to be ready, because they want to win," Mitchell said.

He said the players took advantage of the Olympic Physical Therapy training that was offered at Case, some worked with a personal trainer and some have just been playing as much soccer as they can.

"They push each other," Mitchell said. "They encourage each other."

Mitchell said that years from now, he wants the group of players on this year's team to know they helped turn the girls' soccer program around at Case.

Case High School Athletic Director Andy Crisafulli said Mitchell was a big part of the reason why the Lady Cardinals played so well last season.

"He's very dedicated and very committed to our student/athletes," Crisafulli said of Mitchell. "His knowledge of the game and being a teacher of the game is only going to add to the success of last year."

Crisafulli said the staff and players are excited about Mitchell stepping up to be the head coach of the team.

"He's great," Crisafulli said. "He's what we want as a representative of our athletic department from a coaching standpoint."